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What a long, strange trip it's been: Literally, as the 2,908-ton Shubert Theater, in 1999, was hoisted onto 570 rubber wheels and carted from Block E to Block D in downtown Minneapolis during a 12-day spectacle. And otherwise, as owner Artspace Projects worked to raise the funding necessary to transform the old burlesque hall into the region's first home for dance, the Cowles Center. This weekend, it opens with a $1,000-a-plate dinner Friday, a $150 local-dance showcase Saturday night, and a free celebration on Sunday. On the final day companies ranging from Illusion Theater to Buckets and Tap Shoes to James Sewell Ballet to Live Action Set (doing their hilarious, not-be-missed eight-minute version of The Lord of the Rings trilogy) will inaugurate the new Goodale Theater in short segments. Meanwhile, dance classes will be held in the lovely new education space, the glass link between the historic theater and Hennepin Center for the Arts, while the occupants of the extant building will showcase the business of art in their offices and studios. Friday's event is sold out. (Photo by Timothy Boatman)Sept. 9-10, 8 p.m., 2011